


Sweater Weather

by MCR_Lover221B



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bisexual Pepper Potts, Bisexual Tony Stark, Coming out of the Closet, F/F, F/M, Past Pepper Potts/Original Female Character(s), Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Pepperony - Freeform, Post-Iron Man 2, Save Me, i'm projecting onto pepper except i've never had a girlfriend, sasha is my oc from a different fic and i love her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29314491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MCR_Lover221B/pseuds/MCR_Lover221B
Summary: I'm bisexual, Pepper Potts thought as she tried to sleep.Pepper has never come out, not officially. Her friends would always laugh and say she was so funny, and her parents threatened to cut her off if she didn't stop "fooling around." She wants to tell Tony, though, but she needs someone to help her so she reaches out to a past girlfriend.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Original Female Character(s), Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30





	Sweater Weather

**Author's Note:**

> somehow i banged out 1.3k words in less than an hour. it probably sucks but honestly i don't care. i'm trying to focus more on writing for fun, and i'm taking a fiction writing class this semester so hopefully better writing starts to come more naturally to me. 
> 
> sasha is a character from another fanfic i wrote with my friend, tonysnark96, called Bellissimo Angioletto. she's very near and dear to my heart, and we have a spin-off we did privately where sasha and pepper fall in love, so i thought it would be fun to incorporate her.

_I’m bisexual,_ Pepper Potts thought as she tried to fall asleep.

She had never come out of the closet to anyone. Well, she had tried, but her girl friends had all laughed, saying that she was so funny, and her parents had threatened to cut her off if she didn’t stop “fooling around.” Pepper had had a girlfriend in college, a lovely Irish redhead named Sasha who had majored in journalism, but it hadn’t worked out, the other girl making the choice to return home when her mom was diagnosed with cancer. She and Pepper kept in touch through social media, but Sasha was busy with her own life now. Besides, it could never be. Pepper was too high-profile, and it had worked in college because Sasha preferred to keep her sexuality quiet, the complete opposite of Tony.

Tony was bisexual, and he was out and proud about it. He made large donations to LGBT charities, he attended Pride parades when he could. Pepper was never sure she could publicly attend a Pride parade, and she knew that she could never be as out and proud as Tony was. She hated that she couldn’t accept herself, and she hated her parents for making it that way. Pepper had cut off contact with them long ago, she didn’t even know if they were dead or alive, but the wounds of her upbringing still bled every time she thought about her sexuality.

Pepper sighed, rolling over to grab her phone. She was going to call her ex, the stupidest thing she could probably do right now. She checked the time in Ireland, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized Sasha would probably be awake. Pepper held her breath as she called Sasha, waiting to see if she would respond. On the third ring, though, she picked up.

“Oh, God, hi. We haven’t talked in forever.”

Pepper had never thought of how much she missed her accent before now. “Yeah. How are you?”

“I’m alright, but I’m assuming you’re not. Isn’t it, like, midnight over there?” Sasha tried to joke with her, but Pepper heard the concern in her voice.

“I want to tell Tony I’m bisexual,” Pepper blurted.

There was a pause before Sasha spoke again. “You haven’t told him?”

“No, you know how I am, I’m still too afraid to do it. My heart is beating out of my chest just talking about it.”

“You should get that checked out,” she tried to joke again. “Seriously, though, I don’t think he’ll be upset. Isn’t he bi himself?”

“Yeah, but I still don’t know. Every time I think about it, my mind wanders back to my parents and how they reacted to it.”

“I understand that,” Sasha whispered. “But he isn’t your parents, and if he doesn’t take it well, then I’ll expose him.”

Pepper laughed. “You always did want to do something like that.”

Sasha laughed as well, and Pepper had forgotten how lovely her laugh was. “Honestly, Virginia, I don’t think he’ll be upset. He’ll understand.”

Pepper fell silent, surprised to hear her real name fall from Sasha’s lips. “I think you were the last person to call me Virginia before I started to work for SI.”

“Oh, right. You go by Pepper now, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

There was another pause before Sasha responded in a whisper, “I miss you, Virginia.”

“I miss you too,” Pepper murmured.

“You’re happy with Tony, right? That’s all I want for you.”

“I’m very happy. He drives me nuts, but I think he’s the one.”

“Good. That’s...that’s good.”

“Thank you for letting me talk to you about this. I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime. Let me know how it goes, but I’m fairly sure he’ll be completely fine with it. And if he is, I’m saying that I told you so.”

“Alright,” Pepper chuckled, then paused. “Do you need me to let you go?”

“Probably, so you can get some sleep.” Sasha’s tone was teasing, but Pepper heard the sadness that was in her voice. “Goodbye, Virginia.”

“Bye, Sasha.” Pepper had a lump in her throat as her ex hung up the call.

Pepper knew that was the last time she and Sasha would ever actually speak to one another. They would still like each other’s posts, and send the occasional “happy birthday” or “merry Christmas,” but they would never speak. It was unfair to Sasha and it would be unfair to their partners. It never would have worked between them, though, Pepper knew that now. Sasha had always wanted to go back to Ireland, and Pepper had no desire to leave California. Sasha didn’t want kids, and Pepper did. Sasha wanted dogs, and Pepper couldn't stand dogs. Still, it was nice to reminisce on what could have been. She would always be eternally grateful to Sasha, though, because she had given her the courage to come out to Tony.

“Jarvis, is Tony still awake?”

“He is, Miss Potts. He’s currently in the lab.”

“Thank you.”

Pepper got out of bed, forcing herself to go down to the lab before she got too scared and changed her mind. She punched in her access code, heart pounding so loud she was sure Tony would be able to hear it. The man in question, who was sitting at his desk, looked over when he saw her, a smile spreading across his face and his eyes brightening, and Pepper had never been so sure she’d made the right choice as she was at that moment.

“Hey, Pep.” His expression changed to one of concern. “Are you okay? You look freaked out.”

“I have something to tell you,” she murmured. “I…”

“Are you pregnant?” Tony paled.

“What? No!” Pepper laughed, some of her fear melting away.

“Oh, thank God.” Tony breathed a sigh of relief. “Not that I wouldn’t be happy if you were pregnant! I just don’t think it’s the right time, and—”

“I’m bisexual.”

Tony shut up, a feat Pepper had never achieved before. That would make Sasha laugh. “Come again, honey?”

“I’m bisexual,” Pepper whispered. “I just...I wanted to tell you, I’ve never really told anyone before.”

Tony was at her side in a matter of seconds and pulling her into a hug. “Hi, bisexual, I’m Tony Stark.”

Pepper chuckled, hugging him back. “You’re okay with it?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be? I’m bi, too, it would be hypocritical of me if I wasn’t.” Tony kissed her forehead. “Even if I wasn’t bi, it wouldn’t change how I feel about you.”

“I know...I’ve just been so scared, because I tried to tell my parents when I was in college and they said it was a phase,” Pepper sniffled, unsure why she was crying. “No one reacted well to it, except you and my ex girlfriend.”

“You had a girlfriend?” Tony wiped her eyes, gentle as ever. “Damn, I want to hear about that.”

“Stop being a jerk.” She playfully shoved him, smiling through her tears. “She...she convinced me to tell you.”

“Well, then tell her I’m grateful.” Tony kissed her forehead again. “I’m glad you told me, Pep. Do you wanna go back to bed?” Pepper nodded. “Alright. Let me finish up here, and then we’ll go.”

True to his word, Tony finished up whatever he was working on and took Pepper back up to bed. He reassured her that he loved her and thought that she was beautiful, and her sexuality was nothing to be ashamed of, and Pepper realized that being with someone who was proud of their sexuality would probably be good for her in the long-run. Maybe some of Tony’s confidence would rub off on her. After Tony fell asleep, she rolled over to send a quick text to Sasha.

_I told him. He took it well._

It took a few minutes, but she received a reply: _Told you so._


End file.
